


Of the Prince and The Pauper who tricked the entire town

by NanaWakagimi



Category: Teen Wolf (TV), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Prince and the Pauper - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Twins, Ava is his nanny, Bisexual Stiles Stilinski, Bisexual Thomas, Brother Feels, Comedy, Drama & Romance, F/M, Family Secrets, Hales are related to McCalls, M/M, Stiles Stilinski & Thomas (Maze Runner) are Twins, Stilinski Twins, Thomas is rich, Thomas' Mother's name is Caroline, Thomas' last name is Murphy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-12 08:11:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10486224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanaWakagimi/pseuds/NanaWakagimi
Summary: One is an accident.Two is a coincidence.Three is a pattern.Stiles has been told that rule since he was a kid. He always treasures it and takes it seriously every time something strange happens in his life. These things are often considered as the accidents or coincidences… but NEVER as the patterns. He’s got used to this and he thought this state of affairs would last forever.However…He was wrong.He was, like, dead wrong.And he realized that as one beautiful day he bumped into his own doppelganger.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The story is loosely based on Mark Twain's "The Prince and The Pauper". Dunno what to write more, so let's go :v

The sound of the phone alarm died as only Stiles’ hand pressed the button and immediately hanged over the floor while the boy frowned for a while. He hated that sound and its meaning. He hated the fact that now he had to move his ass from the bed, do his everyday’s morning routine, go to the garage, start his beloved jeep, and go to school as if nothing has happened.

 _No. Not today. Today is my day and I’m gonna spend it the way I like. In my bed_ , he thought, enjoying the silence and warmth under his cover. He smiled under his breath just before the door opened and a certain middle-aged man in the police suit has entered his room.

“Get up, kiddo! You’re late for school.” he said out loud, knocking the door frame.

“…Dunnt make meee…” Stiles groaned half-awake, neither opening his eyes nor changing his position which looked like the left part of his body was lying on his bed and the right half was hanging from it. His sleepy mind wasn’t letting him do anything what he was gladly accepting. He felt warm and nice, and he sure would feel that way a bit longer if his father wouldn’t brutally get his cover off of him. This made him stand up on his feet, his legs a little shaky.

“Do we always need to go on like this every morning?” asked Noah with dissatisfaction, and his son gave him a snort.

“C’mon, not today! Today is special, it’s supposed to be, like, the best day in the year! Can I stay home today?”

He grinned and blinked a few times, hoping his charm would work on his dad.

“Son…” started the sheriff, putting his palm on the boy’s shoulder and smiling in the way that Stiles never could tell if his dad was being nice or if he actually wanted to strangle him. “How about you will go to school on your own feet or I’ll give you a special kick in the ass so you’ll be there in a minute?”

The lad swallowed as he immediately felt chills going down his spine.

“I love my ass too much, so I think I’m gonna choose the first option…”

In response, Noah sighed and patted his son’s shoulder.

“Just hurry.” he said as he ruffled Stiles’ messy hair, and then he exited the room, leaving the boy totally confused.

_Was he being serious or he did that on purpose?_

 ***

The sounds of footsteps and closing the door was first thing Thomas has heard as he woke up. Or maybe he just dreamed it and in fact no one has visited his room? He had no idea. He didn’t even know if it was worth to even think about that.

He changed his position from lying on his right side to lying on back and looked at the ceiling of his quite fair-sized room. Then he glanced over at the bedside cabinet on his left to see what time it was and saw there was something more than just the lamp and his phone on it. First thing that caught his eye was chocolate cupcake with nut pieces and blue ribbon tied around. Next to it, there was a small gift-wrapped box with a note. Thomas took it immediately and started to read it.

 

_Dear Tommy!_

_I had to leave but at least I managed to give this little gift to you. I hope it will make my absence up to you a bit. I will try to be back from work earlier today so we could spend more time together. However, I honestly don’t know how it will work out._

_Love you so much,_

_Mom_

For one second he was smiling but he stopped soon as he saw the last sentence. He appreciated his mother’s good intentions but it couldn’t change the fact he’d rather want her to be here with him.

Suddenly, the door has opened and an old petite blonde woman who was holding a tray of food entered the room.

“Good morning, Mr. Thomas.” she greeted him with a smile. “Rarebits, scrambled eggs, and orange juice, just how you like it, sir.”

“And an addition in form of apple for dessert from what I see.” said Thomas as the woman placed the tray on bed, and then he picked up the fruit and smiled at her. “Thanks, Ava.”

“At your service, Mr. Thomas.”

“So… What will we be doing today?”

“Well, I have organized the schedule…” she said as he bit the apple. “However, today is your birthday, so I can reorganize the order of activities or you can ignore these and do whatever you like, sir.”

Hearing this, he swallowed the bite.

“Great! I wanna go for a walk out there.”

“Well, anything but this.”

His jaw dropped.

“Oh, c’mon! It’s not like I want to see the other side of the town. At least we could go to the Beacon Hills Preserve.”

“Forgive me, Mr. Thomas, but I cannot allow that.”

“You just said I can do what I want. And I want to go to the Preserve.” said Thomas with finality.

“I’m terribly sorry but I can’t let you do this. I don’t set down the rules, your mother does. I just work here.”

The boy groaned with dissatisfaction and rubbed his face with his palms. Apparently, it seemed like he wouldn’t win at this conversation. As usual, actually.

“Alright then… So first I’m gonna eat the breakfast, take shower, the next four hours we’ll do a review of every subject, and then we’ll spend the rest of the day outside until the party begins.”

Then he glanced over at Ava who only looked somewhere behind him and cleared her throat as if she suddenly felt very awkward.

“Ava?” started Thomas hesitantly. “There **is** the party planned for today, isn’t it?”

“There is, in fact… However, if it comes to the guests, I’m afraid that no one will be attending it but us three.”

The boy had an unpleasant feeling in his chest, like he just learned that some member of his family died. And he hoped this wasn’t the reason of the absence of guests.

“W-What do you mean? What happened?” he asked and gulped.

“I’m sorry to inform you that your family has other plans. The Despains are in New York, and the Greysons can’t leave Liverpool no matter how hard they’d try. But I can assure you that they certainly never meant to make you upset, sir.”

He nodded to give her a sign he understood. However, he couldn’t help the fact that he felt bad despite the nanny’s assurance about his family’s intentions. Actually ‘bad’ wasn’t very accurate. He felt like he said something to a friend he bumped into on the street and they didn’t even bothered to look at him. Or as if he was playing hide-and-seek with his cousins but none of them even had in mind looking for him. However, no matter how it hurt, he had to take it easy. After all, it wasn’t his family fault that his birthday party couldn’t be put in their schedules today.

He thanked Ava for information, and as she left he took a bite of one of the rarebits.

 ***

Bite by bite. A crunchy toast was slowly disappearing in Stiles’ mouth while he was holding the wheel of the jeep. He was doing it so mechanically without even thinking as he chewed every bite properly. He was focused on arriving at school and his dad’s behavior as well. Like, he was always receiving the wishes or a simple note from him. But this time he acted like today wasn’t special in any possible way.

_Alright, so there is like 99% chance that he was playing possum. The other 1% is that he actually… Nooo. But what if…?_

No matter how silly it seemed to be, Stiles couldn’t exclude this option. After all, you have lots of things on your mind when you’re a sheriff. However, the thought that his own father could forget about his birthday was not only crazy but also kind of depressing. Not to mention that he was, in fact, his _one_ and _only_ child.

He sure would still contemplating on this if he wasn’t interrupted by a loud honking of a car he nearly just had a bump with. Luckily, Stiles stopped the jeep just in time while the other vehicle drove away. But the boy wasn’t going to just leave it this way. He immediately exited his car and yelled at the driver while tapping his forehead with his middle finger. However, they were now too far to see him, so he went back to the car.

“Sunday driver… It’s freaking Monday!”, he shouted at them though he was also a bit angry with himself for not noticing the red light.

Fortunately, the rest of his journey went smoothly, and soon Stiles, safe and sound, parked his vehicle on the school parking lot where he met Scott who smiled and waved as they saw each other.

“You’re late, man!” he greeted him, shaking hands with Stilinski.

“… Dude, I swear to God, I just had a near-death experience!” he said out loud, going to the stairs with his friend.

“What happened?” Scott asked, a bit of concern written all over his face.

“Well, I go to school as always, finishing breakfast, there is like total quiet and silence, the road is deserted, and suddenly I hear like a ‘honk-honk’! I look around and some jerk just like cuts me off.”

“Oh, God…”

“Okay, right. I was thinking of something else, so it was actually sort of my fault but that jerk driving his fancy car too fast was definitely **not** my fault!”

Scott frowned.

“Then why weren’t you focused on the road?”

“Because I’m a human and I make mistakes?”

“Well, seems like some mistakes can cost you your life.”

“Alright, forget it… Speaking of life – what are your plans once the classes are over?” asked Stiles as they climbed onto a top of the stairs. McCall became silent for a while, staring into space in front of him.

“I guess there’s nothing I’d like to do.” he said at last, pushing the front door.

“…Like, literally nothing?”

“Uh… Actually I thought of studying History, I’m failing it. But I don’t think of doing anything special today…”

“Whoa, hold on a second. I don’t think you got the message.” said Stiles as he stood up in front of his friend who only glanced at him interrogatively. “Aren’t you missing something? What’s today?”

Scott squinted and then opened his eyes and mouth widely, slamming his forehead with his palm.

“Oh, my God, you’re right!”

Stiles smiled…

“Today’s the Math test! Thanks for reminding me!”

…but then his jaw dropped quickly.

“What? B-But…”

“Let’s go!”

“W-Whoa, Scott! Hey! Scott, wait!”

Then they ran to their lockers, and the school bell started to ring annoyingly. But Stilinski didn’t care about that. First the sheriff, and now his best friend. It seemed like a part of one big birthday plot and he was going to find out if it was true.

 ***

“Alright, Thomas. The last mathematics question – what is the ten base logarithm of one hundred, and why?”

“Two ‘cause logarithm is like inverse exponentiation while exponentiation is just simplified multiplication, and one hundred is ten raised to the power two.”

“Very good. And finally, two more chemistry questions. Tell me, please – what are isotones?”

“Well, it’s two nuclides with the same neutron number.”

“Excellent. What are isotopes then and what makes them different from isotones?”

“It’s also nuclides, only they have the same number of protons. In the isotones the protons number is different while in the isotopes it’s the neutrons number that is different.”

“Perfect!” saying this, the teacher closed her notebook, raised from the chair and gave Thomas a hand, smiling at him. “Thank you for today. As always, it was simply pleasure!”

 _Yeah, only why am I being taught all of this if I’m never gonna leave this place?_ , thought the boy morosely but he kept the smile on his face. He really liked his private teachers – Harley Jenkins, the humanist he ended today’s classes with two hours ago, and Amanda Felix, the science professor he was now giving a handshake to. Actually, compared to all of his previous teachers this woman was the most likable one. In his opinion, she could successfully be a kindergartener – her gentle voice, her smile so nice, and lots of patience, all this was only confirming him in this belief. Not to mention that her chubby body shape and her choice of wardrobe were reminding him of a panda bear from some kids TV show but he would never say that to her. However, he’s been bothered by a certain question for some time.

“Mrs. Felix, you…” he started with shaky tone. “Um, I’m really sorry for that but do you ever get tired with this job?”

Mrs. Felix raised her eyebrows but then she burst out laughing.

“Oh, my boy, that’s ridiculous!” she replied. “Compared to time spent with my previous students, teaching you feels like a vacation.”

Thomas laughed nervously.

“I’m serious! I need to tell you, dear, that not even single one of them has made such a promising progress.”

“I-I think you flatter me too much…” he said blushing.

“I’m just being honest. Well, well, before you know it you’ll be famous like your namesake – the great inventor, Thomas Edison!”

Hearing this, the boy grimaced.

“Uh, you know, I would argue with that. He sure revolutionized the global industry, I even admired him when I was a kid, but then I learned about how he treated Tesla and that made me pretty sick. I mean – God, the guy was killing animals! How can you electrocute animals just to prove someone a point? That’s barbaric!”

“Well, that’s right but thanks to it we know how dangerous the electricity can be. That’s what we call a ‘necessary evil’.” said professor Felix, and Thomas nodded as he pressed his lips into a thin line. Suddenly they heard knocking, and Ava came in.

“I’m sorry to interrupt. Are the classes over?”

“Oh, yes! I’m just about to leave.” said Amanda, putting the notebook in her purse, and then she looked at Thomas. “Alright, my boy. See you tomorrow! Have a happy birthday and I wish you to spend this day the way you like.”

He smiled at her casually as she patted his shoulder and then he silently watched her saying goodbye to Ava and leaving his room.

“Well, it’s time to breathe some fresh air, sir.”, said the nanny.

Thomas nodded, and the woman got out of the room to let him get changed.

 ***

Stiles put on his lacrosse training jersey, trying to not think of Scott’s behavior. His friend and dad were definitely up to something but if he’d focus on that during the training the coach would sure notice it and take his anger out on him. Well, that was what he was afraid of. In fact, this would be the first time ever when this man would put at least a little effort in making a proper player out of Stiles but still – that was not something he would wish on his birthday.

Speaking of the devil – Mr. Finstock just blew the whistle asking everyone to turn their eyes on him as he stood in the middle of the locker room.

“Alright, ladies. Since everyone’s sight is finally focused on my pretty face…” he started, looking around. “As you know, we’re playing the game with Bakersfield’s Titans next week. Last time happened to be a global disaster because of not gonna mention who. So you better think of today’s training as of the real game.”

“As usual…” whispered Stiles to Scott.

“I HEARD THAT, Stilinski. Where did I…”

 _Does he have super hearing or something? He better not be a mind reader as well_ , he commented internally, hoping he was wrong about this.

“…I expect everything that’s best about you. I mean it, you have to be _the best_. No glitches, no tricks, your game must be fair as a vodka. We can suck but a fair sucker is better than cheater! But it doesn’t mean I’m giving you a permission to suck, I expect you to take it seriously instead of acting like you were back in the sandbox. Talking to you, Greenberg!” saying this, he pointed somewhere but no one even bothered to look at Greenberg. “And I expect Mr. Stilinski to get down to work. The last time better be _the last time_ , is that clear?”

“As a vodka, sir.”

“Don’t you even think about it, you’re too young. Any questions?”

Few boys has put their hands up.

“None. Very good. Now, bring your asses to the field! Go! Go! Go!”

He kept blowing the whistle each second until the whole team was on the green. It reminded Stiles of the last time he was in there. He felt sick as he thought about this. That was one of not so many times he actually made it to the goal gate. Last minutes. The people were cheering. He flicked his stick, and the ball… bounced off the goal post. They didn’t score the goal though it was so close. His dad and friends then threw a party to appreciate the effort Stiles has put in that game. However, even though he was thankful to them he still thought he could do this better.

This time was supposed to be different. This time he had to be better and he was going to do his best. He wanted to be proud of himself.

But first things first, it was time to warm up. The coach told them all to run a lap around the field. Stiles was aware this man’s intentions were good but he couldn’t deny that running wasn’t quite his favorite sports discipline. Yeah, he was able to run on the green during the game but the difference was that the distance was much shorter and he could stop from time to time to see which direction the ball was flying in. He was pretty terrible at sprint and he was feeling sick as he only thought of running around the whole field.

He _hated_ running. Especially on his own birthday.

 ***

He loved it. The wind brushing his hair and touching his face. His legs moving as if he was about to jump and fly away. He’s been having moments when he wondered how would it feel to be a bird. To be able to go wherever and whenever he’d want had to be an amazing thing.

But right now he had to content himself with being like a cheetah since he had just run a lap around the house in really short amount of time. He was panting, his muscles were shaking, and he felt like he lost one of his lungs but he was used to it. He felt more happy about being this exhausted than feeling numb. He just liked to know that he was still alive. And the feeling of freedom while sprinting could only intensify the desire.

“How’s my time…?” he gasped as Ava gave him a bottle of energy drink.

“One and a half minute. You made it just in time as always, Mr. Thomas. A seventh time in a row today.” she replied with a smile, showing him the timer. He nodded and took a sip of the drink. The sour and sweet blue liquid that contained all the necessary electrolytes was what he needed the most in this moment.

“Are we taking a moment of break and you’ll run another round or should I bring the swimsuit, sir?”

“Actually, why not? I think some swimming in the pool would be great right now…”

The woman handed him a towel and went to the house while he wiped his sweaty face off and laid on the lounger. And that was a moment when he could finally relax all the muscles. Sure, he liked being exhausted like this but he also knew he couldn’t overdo, especially that he was about to jump in the water in few minutes.

He was about to close his eyes to meditate a while when he heard the ringtone of his phone lying on a small table nearby. Without checking who was calling, he took it and picked up.

“Hello?”

 _“Happy birthday, Tom!”_ two girlish voices greeted him.

“Teresa, Brenda! Hi!” he said, feeling like his heart fills with happiness.

 _“We wish you lots of good health!”_ Teresa exclaimed.

 _“And lots of good luck!”_ Brenda added.

 _“And may all your biggest dreams come true!”_ at this point Teresa’s voice sounded different, as if a part of her good mood suddenly evaporated. _“Look… We were really trying to convince mom and dad to stay in California but…”_

_“…They weren’t listening! And they were trying to make us believe they were sorry, too! Can you imagine? It’s not like we were so ready to see you we actually bought a nice and cool present for you!”_

“Hey, girls, it’s fine. You’ll give it to me another time. Seriously, it’s totally fine.” said Thomas calmly. “By the way, have I ever got angry with you because of that? It’s not like I’m gonna die without it.”

_“We know but we’re sorry anyway.”_

“Teresa, just the fact that you called me is good enough. I really can work with that.”

A moment of silence happened.

 _“If you say so… We really wish we were there with you.”_ said Teresa at last.

“There sure will be more occasions to meet up. Hang in there, girls, I gotta go.” said the boy, knowing that Ava would come back and bring him the swimsuit soon.

_“Yeah, bye.”_

_“See ya, Tom.”_

Right after he rang off he received a message from Chuck – his thirteen years old cousin who moved to England one year ago. Without any second thoughts he opened it up and started reading.

 

_Wishing you the happiest birthday ever!!!_

_Sorry for sending the message instead of calling you but it’s almost midnight here in Liverpool and everybody’s asleep. Hope you’re having more fun right now than I had today._

_See ya!_

 

He smiled, willing to text him back right away but then the boy sent him another message.

 

_PS: There is a new girl in my group. It’ll sound stupid but I gotta say I kind of like her??? Wish me good luck, man!!!_

 

“Oh, I will.” he said under his breath, then he chuckled and put the phone back on the table. He had to admit he envied his cousin a bit. He could go to school, meet up with his friends, and live his life like any other kid his age. Still, Thomas was going to support him, no matter the distance between them.

_I wish you to have a life you’ve never dreamed of…_

 ***

„My life sucks, doesn’t it?” Stiles summed up after he gave Lydia today’s report. He wasn’t being serious, of course – he wasn’t mad at his dad, or Scott, or the coach who apparently gone out of his mind today, in Stiles’ opinion. The man was pushing him more than ever – he had to do two laps meanwhile the others have finished after one. He was the last to practice shots but he kept doing it until his arms started to hurt and the team lost their patience because of doing the same thing over and over. And as the training game started, he was paying attention _on Stiles_ _only_. He was telling him to run faster or keep his eyes on the back of his head, and he kept on throwing comments at him. In short – this man has gone mad.

The boy was intrigued by this though. Usually, the coach wouldn’t even care about him and would just give him small reprimands from time to time. And today he was trying his best to make an A+ player out of Stiles, in his very own specific way of training. Could he see something in him?

 _Too beautiful to be true…_ , he thought sadly.

He almost died on the field, Scott told him he had no time for him and sprinted away from the locker’s room, and he couldn’t reach his dad. The only good thing about this day was that he was now lying next to his beloved Lydia on her bed and he could let all the negatives thoughts go. Her presence itself was enough to ease his nerves, especially as she was stroking his hair gently.

„Have you ever had a birthday so painful?” he asked, staring into her eyes.

„C’mon, was today really that bad?”

“No, no, it wasn’t bad. Actually, it was _terrible_! Looks at my hands, they’re still shaking! Tomorrow I’ll be dying from pain and even the hot shower won’t help it.”

„How about massage?”

Hearing this, he raised his eyebrows.

„I’ll take that risk… Do you know anyone who does massage?”

“It so happens that I do.”

“Oh, cool. Who’s that?”

She only put her hand up and waved her fingers, staring at him in that one way of hers, as if she was going to say „you know what’s coming for you”. And indeed – he knew.

“Take of your shirt, honey.” she pleaded, giving him a mischievous grin.

Stiles immediately grabbed the bottom of his shirt and as he tossed it on the floor he laid on his stomach to let Lydia’s soft and small hands take care of his aching back. At first it hurt but in the end he started to feel release so strong he haven’t felt in forever.

It was amazing. If someone could make him feel that relaxed, it could be only her. Her fingers were slowly massaging every inch of his shoulders, almost driving him to the state of ecstasy, which he was subtly letting her know about by letting out quiet noises from time to time.

“You like it?” she asked.

“Oh, God, yes…” he breathed out, giving a wide smile.

He loved Lydia. He loved her touch. He loved that delightful feeling of relaxation. If he could, he’d stop the world so that this moment would last forever…

How huge his disappointment was when his beloved girlfriend decided to kill that moment by moving her touch from Stiles’ shoulders to his armpits. The feeling of calm and relax magically disappeared, instead there was a tickling now, both in his stomach and on the armpits, which was followed by sudden fear and feeling that he had to defend himself.

 „No, no! NO!” he yelled out through laugh, trying so hard to not let Lydia’s fingers get to the vulnerable places near his chest.

„You’re dead, Stilinski!” she laughed, grab bing his arm and turning him on his back, and then she pinned him to the mattress and kept holding him until he stopped trying to escape.

Stiles finaly released the last giggle and stared at the girl who was now looking down at him. Her long strawberry blond hair was barely touching his face. He could see the little glimpses of satisfaction in her big, green eyes but as she added a wide smile to this he discovered that her expression could possibly have a hidden meaning. At first he once again admired how beautiful she was but considering the situation he found himself in and that mysterious grin of her he thought of something more.

„Hey… You did it all on purpose, didn’t you?”

She just shrugged.

„Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”

He let out a breathless laugh and freed his arms from her grip.

“C’mere then.” he suggested while touching Lydia’s face so she leaned down to him and in the next moment they their pressed their lips in a passionate kiss.

Stiles was just so addicted to it. Her touch, her taste – Lydia was affecting him, like a real drug. He couldn’t live a single day without the sweetness of her lips. However, sometimes it could be really dangerous, especially know – the boy was so busy stealing little kisses from her that he didn’t notice the moment when he placed his palm on her thigh. He only realized that when she touched his fingers.

„God, I’m so sorry!” he exclaimed, looking at his beloved one with embarrassment but she didn’t look like it made her angry.

“It’s okay.” she replied, stealing a kiss from him, and she guided Stiles’ palm so it went up.

„Wait…”

„What?” saying this she stopped just in the moment when his hand was on her back.

“What if someone comes in?”

“No one will. Mom’s at her friend’s.”

“Oh… Cool.”

Seeing how far he went with his hand he was going to pull up Lydia’s dress but then she happened to be a mind-reader and took it off herself, which led the clothing to being tossed on the floor. As only she laid under him, she placed her arms on his shoulders and pulled him closer to her.

He would die to receive presents like this on every day. The sweet taste of her lips. Her soft and fair skin. Those cute little moans escaping her mouth as he kissed her neck, then he was doing it with her breasts and then he was just going down and down. That was their routine – he was trying to be as gentle as he could, while she was taking pleasure from it of which she was always letting him know by quiet moans and sometimes even giggles if he would unintentionally tickle some part of her body.

And suddenly the time of being sweet and gentle was over when Stiles came to Lydia’s abdomen. He kissed it slowly and was about to grab the edge of her panties…

…when he felt vibrations of his phone in the pocket. He looked at Lydia, stopping doing the thing he was currently doing, but she only shrugged.

“Pick it up, I’ll wait.” she said. Stiles sighed heavily, then he rose up and took out the phone, rolling his eyes as only he saw who was calling.

 _Scott, couldn’t find a better moment, dude_ , he thought, pressing the green button.

„Yes, Mr. McCall?”

He was expecting an answer but he met dead silence instead.

„Scott?”

Again, no reply.

„Man, if there is something you really want to say…”

_„Stiles, shut up!”_

He froze. He was going to scoff his best friend for ruining the mood, but his frightened voice made Stiles forget about this.

„Scott? What’s happening? Why are you whispering?”

“ _Look… L-Listen, I don’t have much time.”_ Scott stuttered. „ _I-I don’t even know where to start…!”_

„Calm down! Where are you?”

_„At your house… I came to your house, I went upstairs and… I don’t know, he just like showed up! I’m hiding now, I hope he won’t find me…”_

„For God’s sake, why are you calling me if you should be calling the police?!”

_„I-I already did but your dad is not coming!”_

„How long are you there?”

Instead of receiving the answer he heard a loud crack and Scott’s muffled scream, and then the call has been dropped.

He couldn’t believe it. He just couldn’t believe in what just happened. His heartbeat fastened and it was difficult for him to catch breath. Meanwhile the life of his almost-brother was in danger for God knew how long, he was having a nice time with Lydia as if nothing was happening. He shoved the phone back in the pocket and grabbed his shirt from the floor.

„Sorry, I gotta go.” he told to Lydia as he was dressing up. „I don’t know what happened and how it actually happened but no m…”

„No matter what it is, you won’t go in there alone.” Lydia finished his sentence, and he couldn’t tell when she managed to put on her dress and stand in the door like she was ready to leave.

„Lydia, I love you and I know your abilities but I won’t let you put yourself at risk.”

„And I don’t want you to get hurt. You know, there are criminals that you can’t just knock out with your baseball bat.”

„Well, same goes with self-defense!”

„That I was taught by the former soldier!”

Stiles sighed as he saw her look. Now he definitely wouldn’t win the battle. His, he hoped, future wife was a pretty stubborn human being and even though he wouldn’t leave her till the end of time, this little trait of her was always getting on his nerves.

“Alright! Fine.” he finally said, and Lydia smiled.

“So what’s your plan?” she asked as they left the house.

„Well, two minutes is definitely too little to me to come up with something at least a bit complicated so let’s just say that I’ll be a ‘knock-outer’ and you’ll be a ‘ball-kicker’.”

The girl agreed with that and in the next second they were sitting in the jeep, on their way to the Stilinski’s house. Stiles was focused on the road or at least he was trying to not let the situation from the morning happen again. He had all of his nerves tensed unlike Lydia who seemed to be pretty calm since only they left her place. Even now she was sitting right next to him and looking at herself in the wing mirror like it was more important than the fact that one of her best friends was in danger.

Something was wrong about her. Usually she wouldn’t act like this. After all, he remembered how stressed and heartbroken she got when Scott had a motorbike accident. He could’ve died and she almost broke down crying back then. Why was she acting like his life wasn’t a big deal now?

He was about to subtly point it out when he heard a loud car’s honking. Suddenly he experienced an awkward deja vu – the same crossroad as this morning, and he was, too, thinking of something different than the road but the other car wasn’t the same. And it’s driver has stopped in the right time. However, Stiles had no time to start fights, so he only hid the side window and waved to a bright-haired woman sitting behind the wheel to let her know that he was sorry about cutting her off. Only he had no idea why she gave him a surprised look and got out of her car but he considered it as nothing really important in this moment. Just like the fact that Lydia wasn’t very worried about Scott.

 _We gotta talk about this later_ , he promised to himself and, as only they made it to the next crossroad, he turned left.

Eventually, they made it to Stilinski’s house. However, after they got out the car, Stiles realized that something was off about the scenery. As only he looked at the light inside the building it immediately died, and he didn’t see any police cars anywhere, excluding the sheriff’s one.

„Are you gonna come in?” Lydia asked, and he shook his head.

„I can see my dad’s car but there should be more of them. It’s not safe for one person to take the case all by themselves.”

„So? Didn’t you have a plan?”

„Yeah, but it’s not refined.”

„Oh, please. It’s better than having no plan at all. Come on!”

Then she sprinted inside the house, leaving Stiles dumfounded and surprised that his love – who was admired by him for her extraordinary intellect – was acting so irresponsible. He called her but it didn’t do anything, so he ran after her.

He was surrounded by dead silence and complete darkness. He looked around hoping to see something but he didn’t. He thought it was better to not turn the light on and he shouldn’t call Lydia, or Scott, or his dad. Instead, when his eyes have adjusted to the darkness he took a look at the baseball bat and as he grabbed it he felt much safer.

He entered the living room quietly, making step by step as carefully as he could. No matter how smart the burglar was – he was going to be smarter, that’s why he decided to sneak under the wall. It was quiet, almost soundless. How high his rate increased when he stepped at the plank that was the loudest squeaking one of all.

_If I’ll make it alive I’m gonna tell dad we need a renovation!_

However, he decided to keep going, praying in his naivety for the burglar to not hear anything.

One step.

Second step.

And another.

And another one.

He was getting closer to the kitchen. Only he wondered why there was a low light as if someone lit up a handle but he decided to find out about it when he’d knock out the burglar.

 _Okay… That’s it. On three_ , has crossed his mind. _One… Two… THREE!_

Without any deeper thoughts he lifted his bat and stormed in the kitchen, ready to fight.

„LEAVE ‘EM ALONE…!”

„SURPRISE!”

Someone turned the light on.

Stiles’ anxiety suddenly disappeared replaced by stupor and confusion.

He ran onto them holding a bat, all ready to get rid of every single one who was threatening his friends. Meanwhile, they all were safe and sound. Dad, Scott, Allison and Lydia. They were surrounding a table full of snacks, waiting for him with a cake with seventeen lit candles on it.

„What the…”

„Um… You better put it down, love. You won’t slice the cake with a bat.” Lydia told him, pointing at the boy’s weapon, and he did it almost right away.

„…Alright, can someone tell me what was all the show about?” he asked, looking at everyone. „And who’s dumb idea was that?”

Lydia put her han dup, and Stiles frowned.

„Honey… WHY?!” he shrieked, pretending to cry.

„Because you always complain about how your life bores you to death, so we came up with something that would make you think about it for a while.” saying this, she walked closer to him and grabbed his hand, then she started guiding him to the cake.

“You have no idea how hard it was.” Scott confessed. „I had to change the subject all the time, I had to pretend I couldn’t hear you, and I could barely find some strength to and get in here after the training and help Allison make food .”

Stiles gave his friend a sardonic smile to make him understand that sometimes he hated Scott’s good brawn. Scott only nodded and winked to let him know that he understood but he wasn’t afraid of him.

„Before I went to work I called your coach and told him to go hard on you today so you wouldn’t be able to move your legs.” the sheriff said.

„How dare you call yourself my father? That guy is a killer!”

“But thanks to this, I was given the coolest job to do.” explained Lydia, putting her free palm on Stiles’ shoulder. „I believe you liked the massage, didn’t you?”

He only sighed nodding, and then he looked at Allison.

„What about you? Haven’t seen you all day.”

„That’s because I was baking the cake.” the girl replied. „Or rather I tried. First time it didn’t bake, and I burned the second one, so I asked Scott’s mom for help. And then I had to do some shopping for the party.”

„For which she needed me ‘cause there was too many things to bring.” Added Scott, and Stiles nodded with understanding.

„Alright but what’s with the rest of the show? Pretending that you forgot about me? That someone wanted to kill Scott? And Lydia didn’t give a damn about it? All of this just to teach me a lesson? On my birthday?

„Pretty much.” Lydia confirmed. „And we were giving you signals from time to time. We’ve been wondering when you’d find out.”

„After all – like you said – today is special.” the sheriff added.

Stiles took a deep breath and ran his palm over his face, counting to ten in his mind. He had no words. All that mascarade was organized just to make him realizm that „he’s been complaining too much” – he couldn’t believe his ears. He had to admit to himself though that he was also the culprit here and he was going to tell everyone about this.

„Let me get some things straight…” he spoken up slowly. „Everyday: I wake up, I go to school, I meet up with you guys, sometimes I play lacrosse, and in the end I go to sleep. And I go on like this since my something-teenth birthday. I think I have a right to think this is boring and want to change something, right? I know that you not only wanted to teach me a lesson but also entertain me somehow but… Guys. I made a mistake. That’s not what I meant.”

“So what was it?” asked Scott, frowning.

„I don’t know, I meant something more like mysteries. You know – like, I’m a heir of a Polish royal family, or my house has been build up on a cemetery, or I have a long lost twin brother, or something…”

At this moment, Noah went strangely pale and his face started to look like he suddenly got dizzy. He turned back from all the guests and tried to take some breath in his lungs what made his son believe that he was having a heart attack.

„Dad? Are you okay…?” he asked, looking at the man with a concern but he only gave him a shade of smile, like he wanted to let him know that above all he was alright.

„Yeah… I’m just hungry and the juices in my belly are kind of starting to mix, so if you’re done, please – blow the candles so we could start eating.”

The boy nodded though he didn’t buy his father’s explanation. He was not only worried about his re action but also simply surprised.

_Right when I was talking about mysteries. Coincidence?_

Whatever it was he had to take care of it later. Now, he had more important things to do.

„I want you to know that right now I love you and hate you all as well, so – me forgiving you depends on how the cake tastes like and if I’m gonna like it.”

Stiles heard the voices of agreement, so he took a knife and carefully cut off a slice from the bottom of the cake. Then he put it in his mouth and chewed a few times, and after a moment of sweet chocolate sensation on his tongue he rose his thumbs up what made everyone scream from happiness. Not to mention that he received a big kiss on the cheek from Lydia. Then they all gone silent, and he leaned down on the cake and closed his eyes.

He wasn’t asking for much. He didn’t want money. He didn’t need a villa with a swimming pool. A fame would totally take over him sooner or later. What he really wanted was simple – a moment of rest from all the routine.

 ***

A routine. He didn’t even try to deny that. Waking up every day, listening to his daily schedule, eating, studying, running or swimming, and the rest of the day “belonged” to him. Only playing the same game all over again or watching a repeat of “Sunday’s Movie Night” on TV wasn’t on the top of his list of dreams – even him sitting in the living room, as always in the evening, was scheduled.

„No one cares, Thomas…” he whispered to himself. „Just stop complaining and get over it. You will never find the way out.”

He released some air from his mouth and got up from the couch, and then he approached a closet full of DVD boxes. There was nothing interesting to see on TV to him, so he decided to watch something he liked, with no advertisements. The movies were sorted from the oldest to the newest, and he loved the nineties, so he picked one of those productions. „The Parent Trap” – that one was his favorite. He actually couldn’t tell why he loved that movie so much, probably he was just being sentimental. He turned on the DVD player, put the CD in it, and then he sat back on the couch to finally rewatch the movie.

Minute by minute. The plot was going forward. Annie and Hallie met each other. He always wondered how it felt to play twins. In his opinion, the young actress back then handled it pretty well.

Then there came the scenes where the main heroines were fighting each other. Playing cards. Sabotage of their cabin that made them both being put in the isolation cabin. And finally the scene he could never understand – the girls being shocked when they found out they were sisters. He was aware they were just kids but, as for him, even an utter idiot would see they had a twin if they stood next to each other. He was also willing to say that the author of the book that the movie’s plot was based on didn’t really think this detail through.

He was going to see the scene where the sisters were thinking of switching places when Ava stormed in the living room, carrying a big white box. As she saw Thomas, she suddenly froze what immediately got him interested.

„Is everything alright? You look like you just saw a ghost.” He commented, taking the box o which there was logo of his favorite pastry shop.

„Oh, I’m fine, just…” she breathed out. „…That was the weirdest ride in my entire life.”

“Oh, yeah? What happened?” he asked, going towards the dining room.

„Almost got involved in a collision.” the woman spoken up, following him. „I was in the middle of ride when I had to stop right before the crossing because one second and I would hit the car on the right. Then he slowed a bit, and I had to rub my eyes because… Of course, this will sound crazy but I could swear I saw _you_ there, Mr. Thomas.”

As he put the box in the table, he was looking at her in silence, trying to analyze her words. She was right – that was crazy.

Suddenly she burst out laughing and he joined her.

„Oh, honestly! What a dusk and a little stress can do to the human’s sight! This is impossible!” she spoke as she laughed.

„Well, according to what I read somewhere there is like seven totally different people who look exactly the same!” he replied, though he was curious about what happened to Ava.

_Makes me wonder why I learned this right when I just watched the movie about twins. Coincidence?_

Coincidence. Maybe it was just a coincidence if the theory he read somewhere was true. He decided to think about it later and unpack the cake.

„Wow, it’s kinda huge.” he commented when he saw a large chocolate block, decorated with little seventeens made of cream. „Are you sure we’re gonna eat it before the dawn?”

„We’ll do it tomorrow after lunch if we won’t make it today. Chocolate and cinnamon, your favorite.” replied Ava, taking two candles in shapes of 1 and 7, and a lighter out of her purse.

 „Shouldn’t we wait for mom?” he asked as she put the candles on the cake.

„There’s no need to do this, Mr. Thomas.” she responded with a smile. „As I left the pastry, she send me a message that she’s on her way home. She should be back soon.”

The boy rose up his eyebrows, feeling a nice wave of warmth in his chest. He couldn’t believe his ears. However, before he was overwhelmed by happiness for good he had to ask her about something more.

„How long does ‘soon’ takes?”

Before Ava could say something, he heard the sounds of opening door and familiar groaning coming from the hall. Without thinking twice he ran in there and saw a short dark haired woman. He was curious about the guitar case hanging from her arm but he came to a conclusion that he’ll learn about it in a while. First he had to hug her.

„Oh, there he is – my dearest Tommy! My precious little sunshine!” she exclaimed happily as he pulled himself in her embrace. „Did you miss mommy? Have you been crying for hours? Were you feeling so, so sad that I wasn’t here? Oh, now I’m going to hug the hell out of you, my baby!”

He was happy that she managed to get home before midnight. He liked to greet her with hugs. He loved her with all his heart and appreciated all the things she’s done for him.

…If only she stopped calling him that it would be perfect. Every new ‘cute’ adjective coming from her was making him blush more and more. All the ‘little sunshines’ and ‘babies’ – he wished he could say that he wasn’t five anymore. However, he’d feel awful for making her sad, so he patiently waited until mom would release him from her embrace but before she did she kissed both of his cheeks.

_Cringe, Thomas, cringe, just remember she’s not doing this on purpose... Or maybe she does?_

„Now, bring it on! How was your day?” she asked with a smile on her face. He wondered where all her energy was coming from if she spent all day at work where she had to run, attend business meetings, pick up the calls, and – above all – think.

„Uh… Great! As usual.” he replied, giving her a casual smile. „What do you need the guitar for?”

„Me? I don’t need it at all. I just had to bring it in here somehow.” she responded, taking the futeral off of her arm and giving it to Thomas. „Happy Birthday, sweetheart! It’s acoustic – just like you wanted.”

„Thanks…” he said, taking his birthday present from her. He tried to make it sound convincible but his acting skills suddenly flew away somewhere. All he made instead was just a grim grumbling what made mom’s smile fade a little.

„Tommy, is everything okay?”

No. Nothing was okay. It’s been like this for some time. Lots of conflicting thoughts started to invide his head, he was torn between keeping pretending to be happy and confessing to him mother about his feelings for the first time in twelve years. He was thinking so hard of how to play it well without hurting her. He could see every possible reaction – from bursting out laughing, through a deep sigh, to yelling and grounding him in his room, but he still couldn’t see how it would end.

And at last he decided. He took a deep breath and looked into the woman’s eyes.

„Tommy...?”

„Look... Mom, just don’t get me wrong. I love you to pieces but...” He gulped. „…This is my _seventeenth_ birthday, right?”

She was staring at him for a while, then she nodded.

„Indeed.”

_First move, buddy. Keep going!_

„So here’s the thing.” He hanged the guitar on his arm and took a step forward heading towards the dining room. „You know that I like to watch the birds sometimes. As far as I know, there is one moment in every bird’s life when he doesn’t fit it’s nest anymore and that’s why it’s been learning how to fly to… You know, get out of it.”

„Yeah, I know.”

„...But if the bird won’t learn how to fly it’s gonna go down and die when it grows up, so it’s better for it to learn until it’s still a baby.”

„That’s right, honey. Your teachers really are experts if you’re so well informed about the world.”

„I’ve learned about it _on my own_.”

They stopped, looking at each other in silence.

„Do you understand?” asked Thomas at last. „I’m the same. Why do I need all the knowledge about everything in the world if I can’t even go outside to test it? Does it make any sense to you?”

„Tommy...”

„How am I supposed to find a job? How will I gain friends? How will I talk to a girl? How will I live on my own?”

„Tommy, ale...”

„I could be your little baby but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m just sitting here doing nothing all the time! Mom, I’m not five anymore!”

She was silent. She kept staring at him and there was no word coming from her mouth. He expected every possible reaction but staying silent. Did he hurt her? Did he make her angry? Or sad? He had no idea. There was no other emotion but pure astonishment on her face.

_Did I say too much...?_

He swallowed. He saw nothing good about her expression. He had an unpleasant feeling that he should’ve keep his mouth closed. That would save him a lot of nerves.

_Don’t just stand like that, moron! Do something! You can still fix this!_

He opened his mouth to say something when mom’s expression changed. She wasn’t shocked anymore — he could saw a dose of motherly concern in her eyes. She moved her palm closer and caressed his cheek what he definitely could see coming.

„It will happen one day…” zaczęła. „I will have to let you go.”

He never dared to cut her off. He had a feeling that this talk was going in the right direction.

“But as long as you’re here, please — just don’t go anywhere. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you, I can’t lose you, too.”

_Oh, damn... It’s not good._

He knew well what loss she was talking about. He accomplished his goal but he could saw the tears in the corners of her eyes, her lower lip starting to tremble. Now he was deeply concerned about the advisability of his actions.

To stop her almost crying he nodded a few times what brought a sad smile on his mother’s face. She hadn’t shed a single tear what he considered as a success. Then she hugged him tightly and they both went to the dining room.

“Okay but when you were talking about letting me go, you were thinking of the age of...?”

“Twenty one. Starting from then you’ll be absolutely independent of me.”

“B-But... Wait. I’m reaching maturity next year. It’s just alcohol I’m not allowed to drink until I turn twenty one.”

“That’s right.”

“Oh, come on. Put some trust in me, would you? I don’t even like alcohol.”

“...Wait, how do you know how the alcohol tastes like?”

“Yeah, I hope you’ll forgive me that glass of Martini that I broke...”

“THOMAS!”

The boy burst out laughing and ran to the dining room before mom could slap him in the butt. He winked at her to let her know that he was obviously joking but she only shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“Oh, finally. We’re all here.” noticed Ava, being all tired of waiting for them. “Can I light the candles now?”

Thomas and his mother nodded, and the nanny turned on the lighter to create two little flames on the wicks. All that was left for him to do was to lean down on the candles and close his eyes.

He was fine with that. He could wait four more years to go outside. The only thing he really wanted was a chance to test all the knowledge he’s been taught for all these years. A chance to run away from this reality. A chance to say no to loneliness.

 ***

At the same time, the Prince and the Pauper took a deep breath and blew the candles.

_Oh, dear Lord, please… May I receive a one day of freedom?_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! If you see any mistakes point them out and let me know about them in the comments. Thanks again :*


End file.
